Following a Fab Melo put-back slam, the UConn men’s basketball team had the ball with an opportunity to tie or win the game.

With 17 seconds remaining, Ryan Boatright, who finished with 14 points and was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, took a three-pointer. But Dion Waiters, who scored 10 points, was there to block the attempt. After the ball went out of bounds off the Orange, the Huskies took a timeout.

“We were trying to get penetration,” said UConn coach George Blaney. “They played it pretty well.”

Following the in-bounds pass, Jeremy Lamb, who scored a team-high 19 points, had the ball behind the three-point line. Syracuse’s 3-3 zone defense stretched beyond the perimeter and Roscoe Smith found the soft spot in the zone. Lamb found Smith with the clock winding down. And with one second, Smith was blocked by C.J. Fair. The clock ran out.

Close, but no cigar.

The No. 2 Orange (29-1, 16-1 Big East) bested UConn (17-11, 7-9 Big East) 71-69 before a raucous standing-room only crowd at Gampel Pavilion.

The Huskies, who trailed by as much as 16 points in the first half, erased a 14-point halftime deficit.

“Our offense was rather anemic early,” Blaney said.

The crowd was the loudest of the season and was still energized following ESPN’s College GameDay show that morning.

“I thought the crowd was anxious for us to do well,” Blaney said. “They kept urging us. We certainly didn’t do anything to gain their respect in the first half.”

UConn rallied back and tied the game at 63 points with 4:18 remaining on a Drummond lay-up. Syracuse answered with baskets from Kris Joseph and Melo to take a four-point lead and the teams traded scores until Smith’s tip-in tied it at 69 with 47 seconds remaining. Melo’s put-back slam on the next possesssion proved to be the game-winner.

“We had to keep scoring because they kept scoring,” Boeheim said.

Boeheim pointed to key plays from Melo, who scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Waiters, who scored 10 points and Joseph, who finished with a game-high 21 points. The long-time Syracuse coach said the clutch plays are common practice from his players.

“It’s everything,” Boeheim said. “They make all the key plays.”

Drummond scored 17 points and grabbed 14 boards and Smith, who started, finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Alex Oriakhi had eight points and four rebounds. The Huskies didn’t have much help coming off the bench as DeAndre Daniels, Niels Giffey, Tyler Olander and Shabazz Napier all went scoreless. Napier was 0-of-3 from the field.

The win was Syracuse’s first at Gampel Pavilion and clinched the Big East regular season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the Orange.

“I don’t think too much about those things… Hartford is tough too,” Boeheim said.

Coach Jim Calhoun is expected to return to the sidelines against Pittsburgh on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion for the team’s final regular season game. The Huskies take on Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center Tuesday at 7 p.m. on SNY.